Not For Music is the latest effort from Belgian fourpiece Emptiness, and perhaps the best way to describe this album (despite the word’s simplicity) is that it’s very dark.
There’s elements of a fair few different genres on the album, such as black metal, sludge and avant-garde to name but three, but attempting to pigeonhole the band into a specific style doesn’t really do their sound justice as it’s just different and unique to Emptiness – the band brings together an amalgamation of different genres and it just works.
Not For Music is a rather haunting listen, which is largely down to the melancholic and ambient vocal delivery – there’s deep clean tones, snarled lines and even some whispered sections on occasion, and the three different styles all lend themselves well to the music, adding a lot of emotion to the piece as a whole. Additionally, the layered approach at times is particularly good and adds more body to the music, which works well because for the most part the instrumentation is fairly sparse. Less is definitely more for Emptiness, which is definitely not a bad thing as it means you pay attention to all the little details and intricate elements to the album.
This may not be the most accessible album out there, and is potentially more of an acquired taste, but nevertheless Not For Music is certainly worth your while to check out as it’s an all-round great piece.
8/10
